Jigoku Games: The Exalted March Against The Water's Void
Atop a giant bridge of land, below a massive fall grassy plains. Massive formations of rock inside of this arena known as the Valley of the Forgotten. A name like that surely has a story behind it but for now Aurelia had a bigger concern for her to face, her two bat familiars carrying her weapons behind her as she stood calmly, fresh from her previous victory in the last round of the Jigoku Games this time she stood alone with only her bat companions to keep her company. Standing still as she awaited her opponent to see who she would be facing in this decisive match of the Jigoku Games. Scorpius walked swiftly but cautiously through the valley floor, making note of the landscape and searching for his opponent. He walked alone for a few moments as the valley began to open up. In front of him stood a large natural bridge standing above the green valley floor. Scorpius looked up and noticed another person on top near the ledge looking down. "Hello!" Scorpius called as his voice was echoed by the valley walls. Scorpius decided to go and meet his competitor as he ran and jumped into the air, a pillar of water propelling him up above the bridge and then down a few feet away from Aurelia, the pillar of water cascading back down to the floor. "Good day, My name is Scorpius Dakukawa, a returning Sentinel. Nice to meet you," he said as he held out a hand in a nice gesture. Aurelia watching her opponent with the scorpion tattoo propel himself to the bridge she was on and took note of his use of water, a form of water magic more than likely. It was fortunate for her that he came up to where she was, staring stoically as Scorpius introduced herself and held his hand out to shake she stood there silent for a few moments, long enough for an awkward silence to fill the area but acted quickly once she figured out the meaning of the gesture, extending her hand nervously as well but unsure of the gesture's purpose. "My... name is Aurelia Stryker... These two are Shiro and Kuro." Pointing at the bat creatures carrying her sword with her other hand her general attire momentarily visible as she extended her arms outside of her cloak. Scorpius firmly but gently took her hand to shake her hand. He let go promptly as he felt some awkwardness coming from Aurelia. "Bats, huh? Will they be joining our battle, or are they just accompanying you?" Scorpius asked as he looked with concern at the two bats. "I want to make sure to try and avoid hurting them from any stray attacks if that's the case." He started to gauge up his opponent as they talked. He began to breathe deeper as he started to focus on sensing the water around him, looking for a suitable place to try and lead the fight to give him a slight advantage. Aurelia's observant eye catching Scorpius's breathing deeper and his eye movement, Scorpius seemed to be getting ready for battle. "They might if they feel up to it, otherwise." The bats let go of the two gigantic katanas they were carrying as they made an impact with the natural bridge formation they were standing upon, the sense of power the sheathed blades gave off was immense. "They instinctively flee conflict but always return after or if they work up the courage, either or they are stronger then their appearance lets on." As she said that her own body tensed up as her aura flowed around her, the blades that were dropped by the bats began to float upward as Aurelia's magic surrounded it, the art of combat not lost to her after these many years. "The first move is yours but be warned my Reformed Crusaders thirst for combat." her stance hidden behind her cloak she stood ready for whatever move Scorpius may throw at her. "That's good to hear," Scorpius said in reply. He sensed the aura flowing from Aurelia and realized that a head on attack may not work the best in this situation. Scorpius began lookin' around more obviously, turning his head as he scanned the landscape. "Want to continue our fight here, or drop down to the valley floor? Personally, I think staying up here would be more fun." Scorpius said as he thought of a plan. He resettled his feet softly, which he chose to command the movement of water in the earth to pool to the four cardinal directions surrounding Aurelia, unseen by Scorpius and her. Scorpius then proceeded to stretch before saying "Well might as well start now." he said before sprinting towards Aurelia, but before he as within her reach he melted into his Water Body, sliding on the ground beneath her feet as the water in the earth fired out towards Aurelia from all four directions, with the one from directed away from the closest side of her the strongest one in an effort to knock her off the edge. After sliding under Scorpius reformed in his water body caddy corner to her between two of the blasts. Aurelia's two massive blades moved, using her telekinesis the swords moved to block 2 of the more weaker water blasts as Aurelia used her Reflector magic's Distort Shield to distort the trajectory at Scorpius instead. "So you're a water mage of sorts." Flicking her hat which had the distinct impression of a cat's ears, before without any motion sending a barrage of Distort Blades at Scorpius as well they were near invisible and soundless, hopefully, he would notice too late to turn his body to water. Her blades absorbing the magic from the blasts of water that they blocked stayed floating behind her as Aurelia turned around, there could not be much natural water to drag up this far up in the earth formation they were standing on, and as long as Scorpius did not catch onto how to fight her Reflector magic she held a distinct advantage at range. As Scorpius was already within his water body, his body felt like it was torn with blades of some sort, but fortunately only felt like something passed through him without any damage caused. "Ow, that almost hurt." He said, laughing off the attack. "What did you just throw at me? I couldn't see it. Impressive," Scorpius said as he tried to figure out Aurelia's attack. At that moment Scorpius noticed that the two giant blades had moved to block two of the water attacks. "So some kind of telekinesis then? This should be interesting." Scorpius said as he moved his arms in such a way that gathered all the water that was just expunged from the earth into two giant spheres on either side of him. "Now my question is can you avoid saw blades? Water Make: Saw Blades!" Scorpius said as the spheres began to form into teethed discs and spin in line with his hands about a foot away from his skin. Scorpius, still in his water body, began to sprint close to the ground past Aurelia, with the blades aimed at her and the ground below her. Keeping her stoic face, Aurelia seemed to levitate slightly off the ground not enough to be notable right away but what purpose this held was known only to her. Keeping her Distort Shield up would have been an easy counter to Scorpius's water saw blades but she decided that it'd be best to utilize her blades, with a simple snap of her fingers Aurelia created swords around her enough to match the saw blades in number before launching them via telekinesis at both Scorpius and the saw blades. Her Reformed Crusaders glowing red as Aurelia lifted them both up and then at Scorpius attempting to slam them into him. The two bat familiars watched observantly, taking in Scorpius's movements. "I can avoid everything you throw at me, simple enough question really... You intend to bring me down to the ground floor, but I am the one with the high ground not you." After speaking she then used her reflector magic to make use of its Invisibility spell as she slowly lifted up off the ground to get a more effective hold on the battlefield. Scorpius dodged the blades easily as he sprinted past her, striking the massive sword Auralia had and the ground below her feet. As Aurelia started to float and disappear, Scorpius realized what magic she was using. "Reflector magic as well? I've only seen it once or twice in books but never in person. This is exciting!" Scorpius said as he looked around, sensing for any change in the water molecule movements in the air. He felt some of the water molecules moving out of the way of something above the bridge, which caused Scorpius to react by throwing Water Shurikens at the object. "B4, I do believe that is a hit." Scorpius said, hoping that he struck Aurelia as he decided to melt out of his form and flow into the rocks out of view, making both contestants essentially blind to each other. "I can find you, but can you find me?" Scorpius' voice said from multiple points across the bridge. Grinning ever so slightly as she saw the water shurikens head towards her using her reflector magic to distort the aim of the shurikens to avoid her body as she became visible once again. "Knowing the magic I am using will not solve the situation you face." As for locating him that situation was easily solved the two bats that were accompanying her understanding her gaze as they fused together as Aurelia brought her Reformed Crusaders to her side as the now black and white bat flew in closer sensing for Scorpius's signature presence before speaking in a deep voice. "C7, on the mark!" As they spoke Aurelia's facial expression grew serious as the red paper seal on both of her blades burst into flames as a bright crimson, almost steaming blade emerged from both of the blades as she quickly propelled herself at the bridge using her telekinesis with her blades launching 2 massive Sword Pressure waves in the shape of an X at both the position her bat familiar indicated to her, and the bridge itself, even if she misses she'll still succeed in cutting through the bridge following shortly behind the massive X with her blades near her position. "Miss," Scorpius voice rang out from multiple points again in the rock, this time from Aurelia chose to attack. A dome of water grew from the spot that Aurelia was aiming, diffusing the Sword pressure attack. The dome of water continued to grow around the bridge like a giant beaded ornament on a bracelet, effectively canceling out Aurelia's attacks. The pressure from the Aurelia's attacks did manage to burst the dome, causing the water to splash back down onto the bridge or the ground below. In the same instant whips of water flew up towards Aurelia's position in order to wrap around her and strap her onto the bridge. "Even if you try and reflect all of them, they will continue to follow you until I say," Scorpius said as he reformed into 6 copies of himself on the outside of the bubble, with only one of them being his true form. Three of the copies controlling four whips each, while the other three had Water Devil's Wings on their back allowing them to fly up in the air to strike at Aurelia with Scorpius' sword. "Can you really avoid 15 continuous attacks for long? I doubt it," all the Scorpius' said as they attacked. Aurelia after seeing the water dome block her sword pressure waves was not disheartened by this too much, Scorpius had failed to notice her following shortly behind the waves of pressure generated by her 2 reformed crusader blades that were in the process of waking up to full power. Using the sheer momentum she gathered charging behind the sword pressure waves her blades slammed into the bridge creating massive cracks as they made impact they made certain to absorb any residue ethernano in the nearby water they landed next to on the bridge, as Aurelia herself made impact as well nearly mirroring the impact the blades made but still the bridge remained intact. Creating 2 regular sized Katanas in her hands as they started to steam and the blades themselves started glowing red, creating walls with her telekinesis to momentarily block the water whips was but a small task as her telekinetic grip on her 2 massive swords paused, matching the 3 Scorpius's swords was a much simpler task as she quickly and easily parried the 3 swords wielded by the winged Scorpiuses and quickly moved very seamlessly a quick sword strike launched at the chest of each attacking sword clones by a heated blade should yield damage even to a clone made of water. "I have trained since birth in the art of combat, the blade a mere extension, the body a weapon of unmatched potential, you dishonor me by continuing to neglect the truest nature of combat and exhaust your supply of ethernano by remaining in that state of water." Her voice echoed all around as she begun employing her illusion magic employing her Masked Approach became clouded in a strong mist. Her presence disappearing from the battlefield as she begun observing Scorpius's next move. "I give my body and soul to the destruction of the legions of hell. Your swords may sting, but they are nothing compared to the demons beneath us all." Scorpius said in response to Aurelia's taunts. As his copies burst into a fog around her, he began to change as well into his Water Devil's Sync while standing on the bridge. His body was shaken by the ground, but he never lost his footing. As he began to walk towards the fog, his body began to drip toxin-inbued water. Scorpius raised a hand up towards the fog and mist and clenched his fist, turning all of it instantly into toxic water as it pulled together with anything that was within it, pressure building within it to that of the bottom of the ocean. Scorpius' Water Devil's Void spell had been activated in an effort to hold Aurelia in place while also, possibly, crush a bone or two. "And don't worry about the ethernano, I have plenty in store still," Scorpius said as he looked on towards Aurelia with a wicked grin. He wrapped his hands with the toxic water while taking in a long breath, readying himself to strike with his Water Devil's Toxic Smite. "Heaven and Hell are merely aspects of perception, demons and angels are just titles taken by humans that do not want to associate with being human. My body and soul are mine alone to have, as for this fog its pointless." As she said this the presence of Aurelia that was previously on the bridge disappeared. Even though Scorpius sought to use the mist Aurelia created the effort was fruitless as the mist itself was a mere product of illusion, a simple illusion in concept but one not that easily dispersed. As there was no Aurelia on the bridge for the void spell to affect in the first place, as the strange black and white orb began speaking again. "Idiot, my masters illusions are fool proof, and in fact!" As they said this the combined bat familiar of Aurelia's charged at Scorpius in a very quick matter going for his right arm, aiming to bite it with enough force to render it useless, not exactly taking into consideration the facts that he can turn his body into water, nor the fact he seems to be prepping for something. As for Aurelia's true position she was merely observing Scorpius from a higher rock formation that was behind him that was on the bridge, invisible and using illusions to hide herself from Scorpius's senses while she considered her next move observing her familiar attack needlessly. It quickly became apparent to Scorpius that his spell was void of any life. "Another illusion, eh?" Scorpius said as he caught some movement from the corner of his right eye. He looked over to see one of Aurelia's bats making a beeline for his arm. "Tch," Scorpius said as he stepped to his side and socked the bat in the mouth with his toxic water covered fist, sending the bat flying as the water extended from Scorpius' fist propelling the bat even farther. "I didn't want to hurt your bats, but I can't chance it," Scorpius said as he looked around the land bridge for Aurelia. His expression was calm as he snapped his fingers, causing '''Sleet '''to fall over everything in the arena as his hands were still covered with water. Scorpius continued to search around to notice an area where the water was being deflected by an unseen mass or magic. "There!" Scorpius said as he stomped his foot into the bridge, causing a Water Spout to fire up from a rock formation where Scorpius believed Aurelia was.